The Science of Storytelling Visually Explained

November 1, 2014
I have recently come across this beautiful visual entitled " The Science of Storytelling" and was really taken aback by some of the stats it included. These stats come in the context of highlighting the importance of storytelling in marketing but for me I view them  from an education vantage point. for instance, in comparison with words, the human brain has the ability to process images 60 times faster.This shows how much our brains crave the visual component. Also, a majority of 92% of consumers want brands to make ads that feel like a story. You probably have already noticed this trend  on YouTube, so many brands now are marketing video ads  in the form of stories narrated by a given character. But why do we tend to favour stories and how does storytelling affect our brain?

This is what this section from the infographic below tries to explain.

How Storytelling affects the brain

1- Neutral Coupling
A story activates parts in the brain that allows the listener to turn the story in to their own ideas and experience thanks to a process called neutral coupling.
2- Mirroring
Listeners will not only experience the similar brain activity to each other, but also to the speaker.
3- Dopamine
The brain releases dopamine into the system when it experiences an emotionally-charged event, making it easier to remember and with greater accuracy.
4- Cortex activity
When processing facts, two areas of the brain are activated (Broca’s and Wernicke’s area). A well-told story can engage many additional areas, including the motor cortex, sensory cortex, and frontal cortex.

Here is the full infographic.


Source: onespot

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